Google buys Green Throttle, a smartphone game controller company

Google continues its charge toward a home game console with another acquisition.

Rumors have been swirling that Google is going to jump into the home game console market with a set-top box. According to Pando Daily, Google has just snapped up a gaming company called "Green Throttle Games," the producer of a gaming controller for Android.

Further Reading

Green Throttle was created by some well-known players in the technology world. The founder of the company is Charles Huang, who also co-founded RedOctane (developer of the Guitar Hero series). The other two key employees were Matt Crowley and Karl Townsend, both long-term Palm employees. Green Throttle mysteriously shut down in November of last year, but judging by the LinkedIn profile timelines of Crowley and Townsend, the Google acquisition was the reason for the closure. According to Pando, the deal includes Green Throttle's staff, but Huang won't be joining Google, and he retains the rights over the Green Throttle business.

It's unclear what Google wants with the company. Green Throttle's product basically boiled down to an Xbox 360 controller clone and a game store app. One of the biggest features of the Green Throttle controller and app was that you could connect up to four controllers simultaneously to a smartphone or tablet. While the Bluetooth spec allowed for a connection to up to eight devices at once, Android can normally only connect to one Bluetooth device of each type.

Townsend now lists his position as "Hardware Guy" at Google on LinkedIn, and Crowley is listed as a "Product Guy." Usually a vague job title at Google means you're working on a secret project, so these two and other Green Throttle employees could be working on a Google set-top box. Our current best guess is that we'll hear more about the Google Game console at Google I/O 2014, which starts June 25.

21 Reader Comments

Dumb, it matters where the media is displayed. EG people watch youtube a lot on their phones. TV somewhat less, and not many watch movies. Because a movie is supposed to be done on a big screen, that's what it's designed for. Most games that require a controller are also designed for a big screen kind of experience, or at least bigger than a phone.

Sure, maybe this could be for their rumored console. If so I hope it goes Xbone/PS4 route, as the Ouya and Wii-U have already proven the failure of something like a micro-console. A new competitor for the high end would be welcome, yay competition lowering prices! Besides, neither the PS4 nor the Xbone can actually handle VR and something like the Oculus, but a console built for such could. Of course that would also mean a $500+ console, and I'd be willing to bet Google wants a lower price.

So if I were Google... I'd go with a similar set up to the PS4/Xbone, but ditch the Kinect, use DDR4 ram compared to GDDR5 in the PS4 to lower the price, and make up for with AMD's newer, compact 512bit bus to maintain the same bandwidth. Imagine a "next gen" Google backed console debuting this year for $350. Ouch, right in the pricing spot.

Most games that require a controller are also designed for a big screen kind of experience, or at least bigger than a phone.

I have found basically all platformers and first person shooters provide a crappy touchscreen experience. There are ones out there that provide a less crappy experience then other, but I have still yet to play a single one that I wouldn't rather a controller for. And most of them work just fine on a tiny screen.

Most games that require a controller are also designed for a big screen kind of experience, or at least bigger than a phone.

I have found basically all platformers and first person shooters provide a crappy touchscreen experience. There are ones out there that provide a less crappy experience then other, but I have still yet to play a single one that I wouldn't rather a controller for. And most of them work just fine on a tiny screen.

Having played them on a small screen, I'd much rather play Titanfall or Bioshock Infinite on a larger screen. Besides, ask yourself: Is the purpose of your ultra thin, ultra light modern smartphone really to carry around a bulky controller accessory with it just to play certain types of games on?

I hope their set-top box, if it's coming, focuses on getting an A/V signal from a phone to the home theater system it's hooked up to. That way, the hardware isn't a moving target in the future, the Google (/Android) Box you buy now will push better graphics down the line when you upgrade your phone.

Make it cheap, maybe make it an open standard, and you're looking at the beginning of the end for consoles, potentially even cutting off Valve before Steam Machines gain any real momentum.

Obviously, phones will always lag behind PCs and even consoles in processing power and graphical capabilities, but the Wii showed that power isn't everything (not to mention the fact that the power has never determined the winner of a console generation). And as time passes, the graphical gap will become less apparent, especially to casual consumers. I can't say I'm too excited for this outcome, but as long as hardcore gaming experiences make the jump to phones, it might not be too bad.

Most games that require a controller are also designed for a big screen kind of experience, or at least bigger than a phone.

I have found basically all platformers and first person shooters provide a crappy touchscreen experience. There are ones out there that provide a less crappy experience then other, but I have still yet to play a single one that I wouldn't rather a controller for. And most of them work just fine on a tiny screen.

The only really kick ass platformer I've found for Android is Cordy 2. Somehow they got the buttons and gameplay right on that one, but even so it would probably play better with a controller.

project tango to create a viable smartphone based controller? Probably add that kind of hook up functionality in the Android OS. I like the idea of multi player smartphone games on big screen. I thought chromecast should do that bit, game devs need to add the functionality. But multiple smartphone controllers are interesting.

While I'm excited for this, I can only hope this somehow fuels my dream of the chromecast supporting Steam's streaming protocol...

I can dream right?

I was thinking along these lines. No need for a console, just a phone a chromecast dongle and a controller if you so wish.

Steam already has an android app, and while you can't play Steam games on android devices yet (why they're not selling Android game is beyond me) they do have a presence there already. I'd say that streaming to an Android device is extremely likely and will happen within two years, if not much sooner.

While I'm excited for this, I can only hope this somehow fuels my dream of the chromecast supporting Steam's streaming protocol...

I can dream right?

I was thinking along these lines. No need for a console, just a phone a chromecast dongle and a controller if you so wish.

Steam already has an android app, and while you can't play Steam games on android devices yet (why they're not selling Android game is beyond me) they do have a presence there already. I'd say that streaming to an Android device is extremely likely and will happen within two years, if not much sooner.

One could hope, I would imagine the streaming protocol that steam currently uses could be compatible with chromecast, the problem of course is currently the only way to accept the stream is through Steam.

If Google is serious about gaming then I hope they rescue Ouya. Else wise, I hope they fail.

No hard feelings Google, but seriously. Ouya started this micro-console thing and they did it with Android. Don't throw them under the bus.

Yeah I dont see Google buying a console company that has already failed spectacularly. There is absolutely no upside in it for them. Substandard hardware, no install base to speak of, you may as well insist that they also buy and support the NGage.

If Google is serious about gaming then I hope they rescue Ouya. Else wise, I hope they fail.

No hard feelings Google, but seriously. Ouya started this micro-console thing and they did it with Android. Don't throw them under the bus.

I say throw them under the bus. No more Android devices featuring content-less stores, started by niche companies. The Ouya store is so barren, it makes Blackberry's store look rich in comparison (it doesn't even have asphalt 8). If you make Android devices, either find a way to include the Play Store, or be content with being a niche company. Don't expect a rescue because your plans to copy the Play Store and it's revenue stream backfired.

Now that Android games support HID (read: controllers), there is no excuse for not including the Play Store, and you can introduce a keymapper for the rest, like the Archos Gamepad does.

PS: And yes, there are ways to install the Play Store in Ouya, but the user shouldn't have to deal with this.

The x86 PC platform is awesome, but thinking of it in terms of a generic architecture for which people will come up with new hardware ideas, ARM and Android could go interesting places. "Could". And that's really the only interest I see in continuing to come up with controller schemes for it. It probably goes without saying no one wants to play Assassin's Creed on a Nexus 5. But, let's say for instance that SHIELD - and every other Android device not serving as a touchscreen smartphone - got access to a growing, vendor-neutral market of controller-specific games for the Android platform?

It'd be like Steam Mobile, if you somehow considered Steam's coolest feature to be the fact that it can run on x86 tablets like the Surface Pro, or TV boxes like Steam Machines, or x86 desktops you built yourself.

I think Google is going for the living room. GoogleTV failed and it's been shown that the TV people are hostile to Google, so getting Google services on TVs from Samsung, Sony, etc. is also tough.

So a game console is obvious.

As others have stated, if they go the Ouya / Shield route and only support the current, limited, Android games it will fail. Even if it's only $100. They have to aim for a 'AAA' console like the XB1/PS4.

I think Google's biggest problem is going to be development tools and attracting studios. And in 2014, studios are going to want large outlays of cash money to write games for a new console unless it's completely free to port games from other consoles (and it simply won't be). Console games are now far too expensive for studios to gamble on anything at all.

I'm ready for the down votes on this, buuuutttt given The Goog's previous efforts in the living room, I have to wonder if this purchase is "strictly" about gaming in any "traditional" sense. They may well be focused on gaming & I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see another set of Google gaming hardware pop-up, especially along side something like an Oculus Rift to serve as a worthy market differentiator.

But consider:- Charles Huang (the one with gamer chops vis-a-vis RedOctane/Guitar Hero) is apparently seeking other paths while the two key acquisition employees, Matt Crowley & Karl Townsend are assigned to endeavors that are "not fully disclosed".- Valve is building-up a full head o' Steam toward release day, bringing with them hardware partners pushing anything from Bare-Bones-Boxes to Uber-Gamer-Kit. And I don't think Google or anyone else will accuse Valve of being just another pesky wannabe in an increasingly crowded living room space.- Google has acquired Boston Robotics & also picked up Nest (automated climate controls & thermostats) for integration with robotics programs.- Is there a rule keeping stupendous robotics controllers from resulting in some really Kick Ass game controllers for when you're, you know, out of theater?

I realize I'm speculating pretty wildly here, but I could envision weirder stuff than these folks working on multi-sensory controllers with capabilities distributed across a variety of robotic functionalities.

Ron Amadeo / Ron is the Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, where he specializes in Android OS and Google products. He is always on the hunt for a new gadget and loves to rip things apart to see how they work.